Are There Any Kosher Frogs?

The history of a halachic controversy

Everyone is writing about the disgrace of Glastonbury, or about the attacks on Palestinian Arabs and IDF bases by extremists in the settler movement, or about how the government is using the Iran war to distract from paying charedim to avoid army service. I had some thoughts about those topics, but I decided instead to write about something that I’m pretty sure nobody else is talking about: kosher frogs.

Two weeks from today, we at the Biblical Museum of Natural History are running one of our famous “Exotic Kosher Feasts,” this time in Beverly Hills, California. We always try to break new halachic ground, serving species that are widely believed to be not kosher but which are in fact kosher. Can we put frogs’ legs on the menu?

Yesterday, someone told me that they were in a chat group in which one person claimed to have eaten frog’s legs at a kosher restaurant in France. When challenged on this, the person pointed to an article which, quoting various prestigious rabbinic authorities, notes that certain species of frogs are kosher.

The article, titled “Are Frogs Kosher? A Detailed Look At The Laws Of Keeping Frogs” states that while Reform and Conservative Jewish authorities have more lenient stances on frog kashrut, “most” Orthodox authorities consider frogs to be non-kosher. It explains as follows:

As amphibians, frogs live both on land and in the water. However, they do not possess split hooves or chew their cud as cows and sheep do. As such, frogs do not meet the biblical requirements to be considered a kosher land animal. This distinction is important, as there are different rules regarding aquatic life versus land animals when it comes to keeping kosher.

This distinction is indeed important. Another Jewish rabbi from Manchester famously condemned for heresy, Louis Jacobs, once wrote that whales are not kosher because they lack split hooves and do not chew the cud. He was wrong. Yes, whales are not kosher, but the reason why they are not kosher is not that they lack split hooves or chew the cud; it’s that they lack fins and scales. The fact of whales being zoologically classified as mammals is irrelevant to Torah law, for which, with whales being aquatic creatures, it is fins and scales that are the relevant criteria.

Frogs, as creatures that spend part of the time in land and part in the water, could theoretically be classified as either land animals or aquatic creatures. If they were to be considered land animals (chayot), they are certainly not kosher. But what if they are aquatic creatures (dag)? The article notes that they would still not be rated as kosher, because they lack fins and they also lack scales - frogs have smooth skin. But notwithstanding this, the article notes that there are prestigious halachic authorities who have rated (certain) frogs as being kosher:

Orthodox Jewish authorities have engaged in lively debates regarding the kosher status of frogs over the centuries… Prominent Orthodox rabbis who deem frogs with smooth skin to be kosher include Yosef Karo, Moses Isserles, and Israel Meir Kagan.

That’s an impressive lineup! The Shulchan Aruch, the Rema, and the Chofetz Chaim!

But how could they have permitted any species of frog? Was this another case of rabbis being mistaken about scientific matters? The article introduces an entirely new way of evaluating the kosher status of frogs - that instead of classifying them as land animals (chayot) or aquatic creatures (dag), they are classified along with another unusual kosher species: locusts!

When it comes to kosher laws, both frogs and toads are permitted as long as they have the attributes of kosher locusts outlined in Leviticus 11:20-23. This includes having jointed legs to leap with and being swarming creatures (meaning they congregate in large groups).

Ingenious! The Torah permits (certain) species of grasshoppers, namely those that swarm (and are known as locusts), with the explicit halachic criteria of long, jointed, jumping legs. Frogs are likewise swarming creatures with long, jointed, jumping legs!

But what about practical halachic rulings today? The article reports as follows:

In the modern era, the Orthodox Union does not currently certify any frog products as kosher. However, some Orthodox rabbis, especially European ones, still hold that frogs can be kosher. According to the Orthodox Union’s position paper on frog kashrut:

• Green frogs are permissible, but bullfrogs are questionable

• Only the hind legs of certain smooth-skinned species may be eaten

• Frogs may not be slaughtered, but must be harvested after death

So while mainstream Orthodox authorities allow for the possibility of kosher frogs, uncertainties around species and preparation make certification rare.

So there are European Orthodox rabbis permitting frogs. (Alas, the link to the OU’s position paper on frog kashrut, https://oukosher.org/blog/consumer-kosher/is-a-frog-kosher/, returns a “404: Page Not Found.”)

But does this mean that we can serve frogs’ legs at our Exotic Feast, along with the locusts? What does the Biblical Museum of Natural History have to say about all this?

The answer is that it’s a bunch of hooey.

Of the thousands of species of frogs and toads, not a single one is kosher. The idea of classifying frogs along with locusts as swarming creatures with jumping legs is ingenious but meaningless. The Torah permits certain flying insects in the grasshopper family to be eaten, specifically those that swarm and have jumping legs, but it is not permitting any swarming creature with jumping legs.

Moreover, not a single rabbi in the history of Judaism has ever claimed otherwise. Not the Shulchan Aruch, not the Rema, and not the Chofetz Chaim. Not Orthodox rabbis in Europe, not Conservative or Reform rabbis in America. And Jewish authorities have not engaged in lively debates regarding the kosher status of frogs over the centuries. Nobody ever even mentioned it. The OU never wrote a position paper, and the webpage https://oukosher.org/blog/consumer-kosher/is-a-frog-kosher/ never existed.

So what’s going on with this article? What’s the author’s agenda? And how did someone eat frogs’ legs at a kosher restaurant in Europe?